Posts from What is the source of the Mages’ power? Auto-translated

Hero selection:
- against magical factions - Jalib (in addition to his ability, the starting skill "Luck" will also be useful - magic resistance and lucky spellcaster)
- fast clearing of adjacent zones, capturing secondary artifacts (for sale) and mines, "rush" tactic - Nazir (practically invincible, for example, on the "Former Friends" and "Key to Victory" maps)
- fast initial development - Narhiz, Nur, Ora
- Razak (one of the most essential skills for a mage, available from the start!)
- Faiz - the specifics of the ability imply specific hero selection
- Hafiz - a dubious hero. I usually use him starting from the middle stage of the game to replenish the gremlins weekly (if, of course, there are no more than two unbought mages left, for example).

In my opinion, mentorship makes sense if we cannot immediately buy the desired hero in the tavern.

In the first week, it is necessary to build level 4 creatures, possibly at the expense of building the town hall. It all depends on the difficulty level of the created game and the specific tasks that we face at the moment. As a rule, we first upgrade mages to archmages to fight with them in stacks of 4. Then they can be changed if they don't suit. And by the third week, we should try to place all creatures in the city.

I agree that on standard maps, it may not be possible to create mini-artifacts. But on random maps, it is necessary to create them. For a mage, this is a kind of compensation for the skills that were not obtained and for their "underdevelopment". Let's remember that the strength of mini-artifacts directly depends on the "Knowledge" parameter. By the end of the game, they can change the entire course of the final battle, together with the upgraded (and not just one, it all depends on who we are playing against) school of magic. When creating mini-artifacts, you need to pay attention to the faction against which we are playing. If the faction is magical, you can focus on magic defense; if it is non-magical, focus on damage, initiative, and luck/defense/hit points/speed, etc. There are many options for creating them: both the mini-artifacts themselves and for which unit of the Academy they are intended...

For example: we create magic defense for all creatures of the Academy, except for obsidian gargoyles, of course. And then we hit in battle with Armageddon:smile40:

I also had the idea to give magical protection to the mage troops using mini-art, take Jalib as the hero, and cast Armageddons, but testing showed that Armageddon is ridiculously weak for mages, and the spell itself isn't always available in the castle. Also, Jalib's "Spell Reversal" doesn't reflect Armageddon.

I've never played a full game against a human player, only against the AI, so my next conclusion is for playing against the computer. In the early stages, mages are weak, but when the Oracle hero has Spellpower plus Leadership and Luck, she's a monster. She has a tactic against any army: she uses Frenzy and Enslave on some, Clone on others, and Armageddon on others... Also, you can leave a second hero to guard the castle, and the Oracle can pass on the necessary experience through Mentoring... All neutral creatures are either defeated without losses or join you.... The Oracle can carry Titans, or Titans and Rakshasa with her... I definitely defeated (the main hero) of the Dwarf, Necromancer, and even the Dark Mage this way... You only have to get creative if the enemy has immunity to Dark magic... and with Enslave, you can defeat anyone.... And of course, you need to remember about artifacts that greatly enhance creatures...

In my opinion, mages are strong against the AI at any stage of the game. There's Hafiz with a bunch of gremlins and machines, and Nur, etc. And playing as mages is always very flexible; you can be a warrior, a machinist, or a summoner, etc. It's one of the most interesting factions, in my opinion.